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What All Smart Cruisers Do in The Days Before A Cruise
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Jan 28, 2025
On recent cruise I met disappointed or frustrated passengers, while everything was going to great for me with no unpleasant surprises, and I realised it was due to some checks and things I learnt from smart cruisers to do in the the weeks and days before a cruise. So, here are 9 things that will transform and improve your cruise by doing them in the run up to leaving Links mentioned in the video: * My packing list: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/packinglist For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore * Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354 My social media: --------------------------------------------------- * Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge * Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers
View Video Transcript
0:00
I'm on a cruise right now with many
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disappointed or frustrated passengers
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while everything is going just really
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great for me with no unpleasant
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surprises and it's all down to some
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checks I did in the weeks before the
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cruise welcome aboard I'm Gary bembridge
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and I'm on a Holland America two-week
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cruise from Valparaiso Chile right the
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way through to Buenos Aires and this is
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what I do in the weeks before every
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cruise that you should do too starting
0:25
with this one
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on this Cruise there are incredible
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sights and things to do but so many
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people are missing out because they
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didn't do this first check they've
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missed out a selling volcano at Lake
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Toro Santos Lake the pet to Hawaii Falls
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Falkland Penguins a Heritage train
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through Tierra del Fuego National Park
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in his Shire I always check excursions
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as soon as the Cruise Line opens them
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and again a month before cruising for
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this Cruise excursions opened about 100
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days before the sailing but on others
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like region Seven Seas Japan Cruise it
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was nine months before now because most
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passengers wait until they're on board I
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was able to get every Excursion I wanted
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I made a note by the way of the
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cancellation policy which is actually 48
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hours with no penalty before an
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Excursion so after going to the poor
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talks on board I actually cancel one of
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them because I saw self-exploring would
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actually be better in one of the ports
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and again with no loss I had every
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Excursion I wanted I'm doing Excursion
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check early also means that I know what
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I need to Budget on the Strip excursions
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added one thousand two hundred dollars
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to my cruise by checking earlier I knew
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how much I needed it gave me time to
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save up or to look at less costly
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Alternatives with independent providers
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but there's another check I recommend
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also doing at least a month before the
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cruise
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on this trip I keep seeing people having
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to fit their dining around other
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people's plans not set their own agenda
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around four weeks before the cruise I
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check and I make dining reservations now
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on some lines they're not on here I can
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also book my anytime dining slots as
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well as specialty dining by doing it
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then I got the days and the times
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exactly that I wanted if I'd waited
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until I'm bored I could see on the app
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that my favorite times were actually
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already fully booked again as there's no
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penalty for canceling I could adjust
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during the cruise which I actually did
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to join some people that I met on
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different days for dinner for example
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now on this Cruise the check-in was a
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bit chaotic partly because the port
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agents were a bit disorganized but I
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actually saw many guests were not ready
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either now let me talk about the checks
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and things that I do that made boarding
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so much smoother for me first of all I
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check if there is a cruise line app and
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I download it while on home Wi-Fi and I
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get familiar with it on hold America
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their navigator app is critical for
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boarding and again once you're on board
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it's used to do the pre-boarding process
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like the check-in the health screening
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questionnaire adding your credit card it
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then held my boarding passcode which is
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scanned to enable faster boarding once
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on board by the way it has a daily
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program it has my tour tickets ability
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to book dining and excursions check my
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onboard statement chat with guest
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services emergency contact details for
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the ship and so on but also for this
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trip Honda America used the verify app
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where I could upload the required
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vaccination proof and the covert test
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that I needed for pre-screening it then
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gave me a green good to cruise pass so I
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could then use an express lane at
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check-in instead of lining up like many
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other people had to do to have all those
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things checked so checking for the
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cruise line app and doing online
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check-in well before the trip is key now
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as soon as check-in has been done online
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the baggage tags are normally generated
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so I print those out rather than wait
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until checking in at the Port I attached
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them before I get to the port
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now this sped up my check-in because on
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the screws the baggage drop was some
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distance from the check-in area and I
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saw people arriving without their
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baggage tags being printed and attached
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and they had weights in a line while
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someone had to find and confirm their
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cabin and manually prepare baggage tags
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so that just makes life so much easier
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I also saw some confusion at check-in
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and when I first was on board because
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people didn't follow my next check which
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is to carefully read every single email
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that the line sends in the run-up to the
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cruise even if they look repetitive now
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understood for example there were many
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changes which if I'd miss them could
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have meant not making the cruise or
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being denied boarding for example the
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actual embarkation Port that we were
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departing from changed from San Antonio
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to Valparaiso they are really far apart
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and arriving of course at the wrong one
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would have been pretty disastrous next
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as I've mentioned this Cruise added
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specific requirements for vaccine
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booster a covert test within a set time
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period and then close to cruise rule
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that if I had been in China it actually
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had to be a PCR test not having these
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would have meant denial of boarding also
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close to the cruise they advised masks
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were going to be required for the first
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couple of days so I could then make sure
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that I'd pack those that I like
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an update also came with an allocated
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check-in time of 11AM for me which they
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were enforcing so arriving at a
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different time would have meant hanging
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around if you had a later time for
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example so keep reading and carefully
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checking every single email update
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on this cruise I also some people
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getting stressed out because after
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handing in our passports because the
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line retained them to handle the various
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immigration the multiple countries we
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were going to we were then told that the
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authorities in Chile and Argentina
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required us to have a copy of our
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passports and a copy of proof of vaccine
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when we were out in Port now many people
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didn't have that but I have copies of
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everything I create a folder for every
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cruise that has everything from leaving
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home to returning home it means I have
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everything I may need to check along the
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way now in this folder I have copies of
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my passport vaccination covert test
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Insurance my booking confirmation
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itinerary transfers excursions and
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flight confirmations and emergency
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contacts on my travel agent I also have
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a digital version stored in a Dropbox
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folder which I set on my phone to be
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downloaded so it's on my phone even if I
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have no signal I have really easy access
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in here to any document I could possibly
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need if anything goes wrong and for
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checking like if happened on my last
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Cruise the transfer was not there at the
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airport I could easily just open my
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folder check get their contact number
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and sort it out
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another area I saw people stumbling over
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was cash and paying for things in port
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on this trip now while on many
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itineraries tourist places accept US
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Dollars this is still something I always
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check I saw in Chile Argentina Uruguay
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and even the Falklands the US dollar was
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not as widely accepted and nor were cars
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and some cards weren't accepted local
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currency was required by many venues
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Traders and by the taxis however knowing
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that I wouldn't need too much just tips
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and souvenirs for example I didn't buy a
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lot of currency in advance because I
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checked if I could exchange money on
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board and they said they would and in
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small amounts I could just change small
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amounts at a time I also though checked
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I had US dollars in a range of bills
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because I like to use those for tipping
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and gratuities once I'm on board it's
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also by the way worth letting your
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credit card company know that you will
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be traveling internationally
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the other thing I've seen on this cruise
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is quite a few people being really
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unprepared closed and packing wise it's
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been cold wet and windy and I've seen
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people in the onboard shop scrambling
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around trying to buy a warmer or
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waterproof clothing before I go on a
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cruise I check four things before I even
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start packing first I download a cruise
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packing list to remind me I have one if
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you want that by the way but I also
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check online if someone has done one
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specific to the itinerary next I check
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the latest on the dress code on Honda
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America I know although they have dressy
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nights it's not particularly strongly
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adhered to and I can get away with at
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most kind of a collared shirt and some
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smart dish trousers they also often have
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an orange themed night so I bought
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something for that as well thirdly I
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review my excursions to see if I need
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anything like hiking boots or other gear
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that I don't usually take with me
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then I put all the ports on my phone web
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app to see what I need it was clear when
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I looked at that temperatures would vary
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from really cold to really really hot so
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I needed layers a waterproof outer layer
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a warm hat but I also needed swimming
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trunks one other thing I check is are
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there any first aid items I should stop
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up on I've been really surprised how
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many people have not appreciated this
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itinerary has pretty rough Seas even
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when we left Chile it's been pretty
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bumpy we went around the Cape Horn which
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was bumpy so many people hadn't brought
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for example seasickness options on other
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trips like my recent Galapagos trip it
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was insect repellent and sunscreen that
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I needed now I have a whole video about
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packing and things to think about but
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checking well before you start actual
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packing is the key
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another key check is home Arrangements
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on this itinerary I'm in remote places
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and as always I let friends and family
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know where I'm going and how to get hold
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of me I check on the best way to do that
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so for example I found at my mobile
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phone plan only gave me roaming with no
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fees in Chile but in none of the other
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countries it was really expensive and
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there's also many many sea days on this
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trip so I knew I would have my phone in
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airplane mode most of the trip so I told
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my partner sister and friends that they
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must contact me through a chat like
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WhatsApp I did by the way download Skype
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I added credit to it so I can phone my
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mum she only has a landline but I can
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use Skype using Wi-Fi to phone her
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landline now on this trip as I'm
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traveling solo there are people at home
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so I don't have to let the neighbors
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know to keep an eye on the house they do
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have a set of keys they know their alarm
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codes though if there are any issues
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one other thing I did was the week
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before I go I checked the Cruise Critic
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roll call for the particular Cruise it's
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a great last minute catch-up for
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anything that I've missed so for example
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on this trip people that were already
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arriving in Chile warm that there were
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random cover tests at the airport and
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you were quarantined if you failed it so
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I was prepared for that and you had
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worked and so on now if you found all
11:19
this interesting why not watch this
11:21
video where I talk about the must pack
11:23
things for a cruise starting with
11:25
something that most people forget see
11:29
you over there
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